Cassandra's (Axe's) P.O.V.
Axe and Slenderman had both Slender-walked to many places in the building, but so far they had come across nothing.
"I think we should go on foot," said Axe, glancing worriedly at Slenderman. "Aren't you exhausted from teleporting around so much?"
He sighed. "No, I'm not. I guess that I've done it so many times until it's become normal."
They were standing on the beach, but Axe had cast an invisibility spell on the both of them.
"But we should still go on foot," reasoned Axe. "We haven't found anything at all."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Slenderman took her hand, and they both teleported into the building, beginning to walk as they appeared there.
"What if it's not in the building?" asked Axe, worried that they were looking in the wrong place.
"Well…" Slenderman looked thoughtful. "Okay, cast a speed spell on me, and I'll go check some other places."
"Okay then." Axe chanted her spell, and then Slenderman was off.
A few minutes later, Slenderman appeared next to her, panting slightly.
"Checked everywhere else. I don't think there's anything outside this building."
"Okay, let's go." Axe hovered slightly off the floor, and they headed down the corridor.
It soon opened into a wide room with a few doors. They checked the doors, and none of them had anything important except for one, which led off into another corridor.
"I'm getting damn sick of corridors, y'know," said Axe in exasperation as they went through the corridor.
"Indeed," agreed Slenderman. They came to another door, just like every other one.
"If this doesn't lead to something I'm going to murder someone." Axe grabbed the door handle and swung it open.
Inside was a room full of weapons. "Useless," muttered Axe, swinging the door shut.
"Wait," Slenderman stopped her. "There's someone in there."
Axe gave him a questioning look. "No…?"
"Trust me," he said, pushing the door open again. It creaked as he closed it behind him, and they both cringed.
Now that they were inside the room, Axe could see that it was actually quite big, and there was a large array of weapons – even including a Sentinel. One corner of the room was bathed in electric blue and scarlet red light. Slenderman gestured for her to stay quiet, and he neared the source of the light. Axe saw him looking taken aback, and he quickly rushed back to her.
"Scarlet Witch," he explained. "She can't see us, but she'll soon sense us. What do we do now?"
Axe stared at him. "I don't know. Just don't use magic, she can make it backfire on you."
"I know. I remember what happened on the 4th of July." Slenderman looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll just use my Slender Sickness, I guess."
"No!" hissed Axe, grabbing his wrist. "Isn't that magic?"
"It's not. Trust me." She let his wrist go, and he walked up to Scarlet Witch, standing right in front of her. She was checking her nails and humming a tune to herself, completely oblivious to the invisible Slenderman in front of her.
He crossed his arms and stared straight at Scarlet Witch. Abruptly, she stopped humming. She looked up from her red nails and red sparks danced in between her fingers. She glanced around, her eyebrows furrowed.
Axe saw Slenderman's arms tense out of the corner of her eye, and suddenly Scarlet Witch was shaking her head and covering her ears with her palms. "What's this noise…" she whined helplessly as Slenderman's tentacles started to sprout from his back. He let his hands drop at his sides, and he stared down at Scarlet.
She began sweating and backed herself up into the corner of the wall. Her eyes darted around wildly, as if she was trying to see something that wasn't actually there.
"Stop…" she said helplessly, her voice straining. "Stop it…" She raised both her hands and attempted a spell, but the red sparks just faded away into nothingness. She was too weak to try out any spells at the moment. Axe watched on with amazement, fascination and terror.
Soon, Scarlet Witch had begun shivering, and she finally passed out. Axe glanced back at Slendy and was shocked to see him towering at around 10 feet tall, his head almost touching the ceiling.
"Slendy…?" said Axe hesitantly. "Are you okay?"
Slenderman didn't reply, and for a moment Axe was worried if he went into one of those losing-control phases. He suddenly breathed in sharply, the air hissing through his teeth. And then he began to shrink back down to his regular height (which was still very of tall).
"I'm fine," replied Slenderman. "Perfectly fine…" He placed a hand on the wall to steady himself as he gazed at Scarlet Witch.
"She's gonna be out for a while, but we don't want her here just in case she wakes up earlier," said Slenderman. He neared her and gingerly lifted her into his arms, like he was carrying some sort of explosive. Axe felt a pang of jealousy, but she quickly pushed it away. Not now… she reminded herself.
"I'll have to teleport her somewhere far off," explained Slenderman. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Axe nodded, and he disappeared.
While he was gone, Axe stood up and neared the electric blue light. She gasped and jumped back in shock. Oh my god…
In front of her was an electric blue cube with a black colored orb in its core. It was hovering on a metal dish in a glass tank. The glass was really thick, and the top and bottom of the tank was made of thick metal plates that could slide open.
The Destruction Cube.
This is it… This is the cube… Axe thought to herself. She wondered whether she'd need some kind of special gloves to hold the Cube, or else maybe her hands would burn to bits. She stared at it, and for some reason she felt like the Cube was reeling her in, telling her to come closer.
The power… she thought, feeling a little helpless. If only I could get it out of the tank, it would all be mine. Mine, and mine only.
She realized that she was actually walking over to the tank. No, no, what am I doing? But that – No, I need the power. It will all be mine. Everything I want. She hovered over the top of the tank, trying to wrench it open with her bare hands.
It has to be mine. It has to. I nee-
She barely registered something slithering around her right ankle, and noticed it only when she was dragged downwards. Her grip on the tank slipped, and a hand wrapped around her wrist as she was pulled to the ground. She landed hard on her feet and the hand on her wrist spun her around. She was suddenly standing face to face with Slenderman.
"What are you doing, Axe? Are you okay?" Slenderman's eyebrows (at least where they should've been) were knitted in confusion. "What's going on?"
It was as if the rest of the world had suddenly come into focus, and the desire to have the Cube all to herself was gone. She felt Slenderman's breath hot on her face – they were standing so close – and she realized with a jolt that she never really knew that Slenderman needed to breathe until this moment.
"Axe? Cassie?" said Slenderman again.
"Yeah…" said Axe. It took an effort to even say that. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"What on earth were you doing?"
"It kind of… reeled me in." She looked up at him. "Sorry… I kind of lost control."
Slenderman nodded as if he understood, and he proceeded to the tank, inspecting the Cube. Axe neared him and felt the desire slowly creep in again, but she pushed it back down.
"It's… amazing," said Slenderman. "Wow."
"You don't feel any urges?" asked Axe.
"Nope," he replied. "Not at all. Not a single bit. I guess it's because I'm not really human anymore." He shrugged, placing a hand on the tank. "Wow, though."
Axe looked around the room, trying to push the urge for power out of her head. She didn't know that the Cube could also do that. She noticed a large window placed on the right wall, and the room wasn't as crowded with weapons and boxes as she thought it was.
She thought she saw something pass by outside the window, but she assumed that it was just a figment of her imagination. She stared had, just to confirm, then just as she was looking away she heard the sound of glass shattering.
She turned back and glass shards flew around her. She raised her hands to shield herself from the sudden blinding light and the glass. Slenderman whipped around, his tentacles tensing.
Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed three people before them.
Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike and Omega Red.
The three of them looked around, ready to fight. She tensed, but Sabretooth's eyes just swept over her, as if he didn't see her. Then she realized that he actually couldn't.
She immediately stopped Slenderman from doing anything and gestured to him to stay quiet. He seemed to understand why, and the two just stood glued to the spot.
"They were here just a second ago," growled Sabretooth, sniffing the air. Axe had to stifle a laugh – he looked ridiculous.
"Are you sure?" said Lady Deathstrike, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
"Yes." He sniffed the air once again, and then his head jerked to look at the two of them. Axe felt her blood run cold.
"There," he pointed.
"I don't see anything…" said Omega Red, but he was already charging at them.
Axe pushed Slenderman out of the way and attempted to jump out of the way too, but she was a second too late. Sabretooth's claws scraped her costume, cutting easily through the metal and grazing her waist. Blood oozed from the cut, and the invisibility spell wavered before fading off. Slenderman's expression was either blank or shocked – she couldn't tell – and Sabretooth was grinning madly.
"Ohh… I see…" said Lady Deathstrike, nodding slightly. She helped Sabretooth take down Axe, while Omega red sparred with Slenderman.
Axe swung her axe with all her might, the momentum throwing her slightly off balance. It slammed into Sabretooth's skull, and he skidded to the ground. Lady Deathstrike barely dodged it. She swiped her claws at her, and they cut through her metal armor like butter. Axe arched her back, dodging another swipe, and took off flying as soon as Lady Deathstrike pulled her hand away.
Once Axe was up in the air, she had gathered enough momentum and dove down towards Lady Deathstrike, swinging her axe. It cut a huge mark in her left cheek, but it soon healed up.
"You little bitch," growled a voice from behind her. She barely managed to duck as a fist soared through the air above her head with bone cracking speed. She scrambled out of the way and drew a large cut down Sabretooth's back. Blood oozed out of the wound, and he roared with rage.
She swung her axe in the opposite direction, and it slammed into Lady Deathstrike's torso. She stumbled backwards, gasping once, before she swiped her claws at Axe's face. She was too slow to parry her strike or jump out of the way in time. Five long claw marks appeared on her right cheek, blood dripping out of it.
She ignored the blossoming pain and flew up a little in an attempt to send a flying kick to Lady Deathstrike – all in one swift movement. Her foot crashed hard into her chest, and they both tumbled to the ground, Axe landing perfectly on her feet. All the while, she had been muttering a protective spell, and it was finally finished.
Axe spun around just in time to block a strike from Sabretooth with her axe. It shuddered as his fist came into contact with it. Axe swung it and it cut a rip in his suit. He ignored it and threw a punch at Axe's torso. She skidded out of the way in time and slammed her axe down into Sabretooth's head. He roared in pain as she yanked it back out, it's end dripping with blood, and Sabretooth stumbled to the ground.
She stood there in triumph before she heard something shuffle behind her. But she was too late.
Five razor sharp blades pierced her torso, and she could only stare at them in shock. They were yanked out, and the world seemed to blur. Black spots danced before her eyes, and she struggled to stay awake.
How could I be so careless? Did that protective spell not work?
A fist slammed into the back of her head, and soon there was also another that slammed into her ribs. She heard a crack, and realized that they were broken. She tripped on her own feet and stumbled to the ground helplessly.
Someone stomped on her back, and she felt her spine snap. I'm gonna die, oh my god, I'm gonna- Her thoughts were interrupted by a laugh, and then the darkness engulfed her, the silence so silent that she felt that she couldn't even think anymore.
Slenderman's P.O.V.
Slenderman heard the sickening crunch of bones breaking, and caught a glimpse of Lady Deathstrike laughing evilly while she stomped on Axe's back. He felt his heart skip a beat.
No... It- It can't be….
While he was distracted, Omega Red's coil whipped at him, and he stumbled. He couldn't really think straight. He kept on staring in utter disbelief at Axe. She couldn't… No… She couldn't be really…
Dead.
But she was twisted in such a wrong angle, like a rag doll with its joints all twisted up.
He felt himself choke on a sob, and heard Omega Red say, "Aw… Now he's crying." His voice sounded far away.
Suddenly, five claws ripped through his suit, and he saw Lady Deathstrike. Rage and anger replaced his disbelief, and he almost lost control and blacked out. But he stayed conscious and continued fighting.
Instead of just one person there were now three people fighting him. He plunged a sharpened tip of his tendrils through Lady Deathstrike, and yanked out one of her organs. She stared in disbelief and crumpled to the ground. He threw a punch at Sabretooth's face and began choking him, dropping Lady Deathstrike's organ. This all used to be very normal for him, back when he was a killer.
He lifted Sabretooth into the air and threw him at the nearest wall. He was just about to turn to Omega Red when metal coils wrapped around him, pinning his arms and tendrils to his sides. He struggled to escape, but it was no use.
"Look who's a monster?" said Omega Red, grinning, before his coils sparked with electricity. Shock passed through Slenderman, he didn't know that electrocuting felt so terrible, so painful, then he blacked out.
Slenderman dropped to the ground, lifeless as a rag doll. Lady Deathstrike was taking quite a while to heal, so Omega Red simply dragged her to the tank and used her adamantium claws to cut the tank open. He picked up the glowing blue orb and loaded her into the helicopter. Sabretooth helped with Slenderman, and once everyone was in the helicopter, they headed off.